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Beautiful beautiful Portugal! I could go on for hours about everything that Portugal has to offer. Amazing cliffsides, gorgeous green hills, endless historical sites that have been beautifully preserved, vibrant cities, incredible seafood and decadent desserts, friendly people, and reasonably cheap.
It has been a couple weeks now since I've been back, and good memories and images are still lingering in my mind. In Lisbon, cool yellow tram cars, the old city, the monk's cathedral, and Torre de Belem. We ate decadent custard, took zillions of laundry photos, walked for our just taking in the endless historical sites. Torre de Belem was visited at the end of a long day, but by far a highlight of the entire trip.
From Lisbon, we took some roadtrips. The first to Sintra. A must if you decide to visit Portugal. A Unesco preserved city full of stunning sites, and a great ambiance in the town. We arrive on the train and walk up the winding, road through the old city to Regaleira. An old mansion with breathtaking gardens. You pay 4 EUR I think it was and visit the mansion, nothing special but interesting to see the massiveness and towers of the place. What we spent the rest of the day doing is exploring the underground caves and gardens that link the entire property. Such a great day! We ate our picnic lunch and made a cat friend who followed us through the grottoes for several hours. We then ate traditional portuguese treats (obviously) back in the old town before jumping back on the train.
The next day, we went to Caiscais. A small fishing village on the west coast. We were the only people in our hostel but I'm sure in the summer it would be a great little town to visit and go surfing. In the flash rainstorms, we made our way out to the Mouth of Hell! Basically really dangerous cliffs that have been carved out by the enormous waves that splash up into a giant hole. As we walked back into town, we were wearing tshirts (in february!) and soaking up the sun.
We then headed down to Lagos. We met some cool people at our hostel and hung out with them in the evenings. Mama made us crepes every morning and wouldn't stop filling your plate until you said "Teshenga" (I think, basically.. I'm full stop feeding me!) We also learnt to surf! I got up a couple times but by the afternoon, my body was beat. We ate some amazing fish and drank port, what a life. Lagos proved to be a great visit in the winter, in the summer we've heard it can be pretty crazy.
Back in Lisbon, we went to a football (soccer) game. Everton-Lisbon, lisbon won. The portuguese fans went CRAZY! We went out in Bairro Alto which is where a whole bunch of home fronts that have converted into little bars and the streets are just filled with people. Quite a good night life! The Heidi Bar, a swiss inspired bar, was a lil place but a pretty cool vibe. On my last night in Lisbon, I ran into a girl I used to work with in Vancouver, at my hostel! Crazy to see her, small world.
Anyways, overall an amazing trip. This whirlwind experience is almost over, but lots of traveling to come!
Lots of love.
Katy
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